Offshore Litigation Blog

In the recent decision of Rodrigues v Wakefield Quin Limited, the Supreme Court of Bermuda clarified the high threshold for pleading fraud; determined it had not been met on the facts of the case; struck out the case and made an indemnity costs award against the plaintiffs and their Bermuda counsel for pleading fraud without “credible material” to establish a prima facie case of fraud.

The Cayman Islands Grand Court has awarded indemnity costs in respect of an abusive application for the deferral of a company’s dissolution upon the completion of its voluntary liquidation: In re Skye Assets Fund SPC (in Voluntary Liquidation).

In a recent decision of the Bermuda Court of Appeal, the judgment in Afiniti, Ltd. v Chishti offered a nuanced costs ruling following an appeal with mixed outcomes. The case provides valuable insights into the apportionment of costs in litigation where neither party emerges as a clear winner.

In another major success for a Harneys team run out of its London office, Justice Mangatal’s judgment is the first to clarify the proper interpretation of s49 of the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 (BCA). The judgment resolves a longstanding question as to the necessary formalities for a person to become a shareholder in a BVI company.

On 29 February 2024, the BVI Commercial Court handed down its much-anticipated decision in Joint Stock Company “Alfa-Bank” v Kipford Ventures Limited discharging the sanctioned Bank’s second application for an interim injunction against Kipford (the Second Injunction Application) and stayed its claim pending further order.

On 17 January 2024, the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal handed down its decision in Lau Man Sang, James et al v King Bun Limited et al affirming the lower court’s discretionary power to award costs following a split trial to determine liability. In upholding the costs order of Wallbank J, the Court of Appeal confirmed that there was no need to wait until the issues of relief and quantum are decided.

We recently wrote about two Grand Court decisions that confirmed the governing principles on interim payments. The two cases considered demonstrate that the Cayman Islands court has a pro-creditor approach to interim …

In the recent English High Court decision of Perez v Equiom Trust Corporation (UK) Ltd and Equiom Trust (South Dakota) LLC [2022], the claimant revoked an English law governed trust of which the defendants were the trustees, and sought declarations that the revocation was valid, and that the defendants held trust assets on bare trust for the claimant and at her direction.

Two recent decisions of Justice Parker provide useful analysis on the exercise by the Grand Court of its discretion to order costs on an indemnity basis.